"The most successful of formal experiments choose governing properties that may not map onto familiar narrative structures but do evoke the underlying sense of their subjects in surprising ways. This author used the governing properties of music in a way that emphasized the flexible nature of time and story, and I enjoyed being surprised by it." —Melissa Febos, author of Girlhood, upon selecting "I Have Nothing to Say / And I Am Saying It" as the winner of the 2019 Prairie Schooner Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest
Contest Recognition
2023 Flash Contest, Black Warrior Review
"What It Was"
Finalist
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2021 Steinberg Memorial Essay Prize, Fourth Genre
"Must Have Been A Lie"
Finalist
​
2021 Conger Beasley Jr. Award for Nonfiction, New Letters
"Must Have Been A Lie"
Finalist
​
2021 Storm Cellar Force Majeure Flash Contest
"An Incomplete Inventory of What Once Belonged to My Mother"
Honorable Mention
​
Fall 2020 Travel Writing Prize, Nowhere
"11 Short Essays About Walking My Dog During COVID-19"
Winner
​
2020 Boulevard Nonfiction Contest for Emerging Writers
"Leftovers"
Semi-Finalist
​
2019 Prairie Schooner Creative Nonfiction Essay Contest
"I Have Nothing to Say / And I Am Saying It"
First Place
Selected by Melissa Febos, author of Girlhood
​
2019 Los Angeles Review Creative Nonfiction Award
"Giants"
Second Runner-Up
2019 New South Writing Contest (Prose)
"Roasting On"
Finalist
2018 Pinch Literary Award for Creative Nonfiction
"What Accumulates"
First Place
Selected by Andrea Jarrell, author of I'm the One Who Got Away
​
2018 Montana Prize in Nonfiction, CutBank
"What Accumulates"
Finalist
2018 Pigeon Pages Essay Contest
"Left Hand Free"
Honorable Mention
Selected by Garrard Conley, author of Boy Erased
​
2018 #MeToo Essay Award, Memoir Magazine
"20/20"
Notable
Best American Essays
Best American Essays 2023
"Three Returns: A Time Travel Story"
Notable
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Best American Essays 2022
"Self-Portrait of the Writer on Their 30th Birthday, in 9 Scenes Starring 'All My Friends' by LCD Soundsystem"
Notable
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Best American Essays 2021
"I Have Nothing To Say / And I Am Saying It"
Notable
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Best American Essays 2019
"We Have Attempted to Contact You and Have Failed on Several Occasions"
Notable
Nominations
The Pushcart Prize XLVII: Best of the Small Presses 2024 Edition
"First the Teeth"
(nominated by Blood Orange Review editors)
2022 Best of the Net
"First the Teeth"
(nominated by Blood Orange Review editors)
​
The Pushcart Prize XLVII: Best of the Small Presses 2023 Edition
"11 Short Essays About Walking My Dog During COVID-19"
(nominated by Nowhere editors)
​
The Pushcart Prize XLVI: Best of the Small Presses 2022 Edition
"Nutcracker"
(nominated by Ruminate editors)
Other Honors
Pride month list of indie lit by gender non-conforming writers
Community of Literary Magazines and Presses (CLMP)
June 2023
​
Ragdale
January 2023
​
Graduate fellowship
2019-2022
​
Stories Matter Foundation Masters Award
StoryStudio Chicago
May 2021
​
Nikki Kaye Pape President's Club Award for Excellence in Writing
Illinois Wesleyan University
April 2012
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W.E. Schultz Award for Excellence in Media Management
Illinois Wesleyan University
April 2011